Initial Public Offerings: CFO Perceptions

We examine four issues pertaining to initial public offerings (IPOs) using a survey of 438 chief financial officers (CFOs). First, why do firms go public? Second, is CFO sentiment stationary across bear and bull markets? Third, what concerns CFOs about going public? Fourth, do CFO perceptions correlate with returns? Results support funding for growth and liquidity as the primary reasons for IPOs. CFO sentiment is generally stationary in pre‐ and post‐bubble years. Managers are concerned with the direct costs of going public, such as underwriting fees, as well as indirect costs. We find a negative relation between a focus on immediate growth and long‐term abnormal returns.     

诚信建设与企业发展

本文认为,诚信建设对企业发展至关重要,无论是要维持正常的经营活动,还是要通过创立品牌做强做大,乃至于要走出国门,参加全球竞争,都离不开诚信。企业缺乏诚信,必然会失去社会的信任,进而导致自身利益的丧失;坚守诚信,必然能赢得社会的信任,并从中获得利益。文章强调,企业不能将诚信建设仅仅作为一种谋取自身利益的手段,单纯从赢得用户的信赖出发,从企业自身的利益出发,而应该培植真正的诚信品质,最根本的是要着眼于提高人的精神追求与道德素质。诚信建设一靠教育,二靠制度。     

Business relatedness and performance: a study of managerial perceptions

Understanding of business relatedness and performance effects is the foundation of any diversification decision, but we have limited knowledge of how managers consider relatedness. This study identified relatedness classes and performance effects using perceptual survey data from top industrial executives. Four classes with significant variable differences were found: high, technology, customer, and low relatedness. Technology relatedness had a strong positive performance effect and high relatedness had a negative effect. The findings confirm that perceptions are multidimensional, but may include five key factors rather than the previously identified attribute categories of product–markets, resources, and value chains. Contributions to diversification literature are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Disciplining: A question of ethics?

The importance of evaluating a discipline system from an ethical perspective is considered. Disciplinary practices in contemporary organizations are frequently characterized by managers having to choose from among alternative courses of corrective action. Since the selected alternative may have serious consequences for the individuals involved, its rightness or wrongness is of concern. The pattern of these choices reflects the overall disciplinary practice of the organization, and is an issue that warrants attention from an ethical perspective. Basic schools of thought that influence contemporary discipline practices are discussed and suggestions are made for conducting an evaluation of the ethical nature of a discipline system.     

Canadian and American Reactions to Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs in the Workplace

We investigated U.S. and Canadian reactions to workplace drug and alcohol testing programs. Canadian truck drivers (n = 183) deemed drug and alcohol testing policies less fair, and were less accepting of these policies, than their American counterparts (n = 153). We also compared the perspectives of recipients versus third-party observers with regard to their reactions to a drug testing program. Unlike the pattern observed among American observers, the responses by Canadian observers were highly similar to those of the recipients. Canadian observers were more inclined to file a formal protest regarding the implementation of a drug and alcohol testing program than were U.S. observers. The results also showed that procedural and interactional justice principles contributed to the program's fairness, acceptance, and lower levels of protest intentions in both Canada and the United States. We propose that scholars and practitioners can gain a better understanding of multinational reactions to drug and alcohol testing by considering not only cultural but also historical, social, political, and other environmental factors that can shape reactions to personnel practices.     

Relationships among pay inequity,perceptions of procedural justice,and organizational citizenship

This study explored relationships between employee dissatisfaction with pay, perceptions of procedural justice, and organizational citizenship behavior. It was hypothesized that pay inequity would be negatively related to citizenship, while favorable perceptions of procedural and interpersonal justice would be positively related. Results provided strong support for the hypotheses only with regard to a dimension of citizenship labeled “compliance.” Implications for employee behavior in the workplace and the expression of grievances are discussed; future research directions are also offered.     

转型期国有企业改革的伦理困惑与破解--基于中国的实践和西方的经验

经济转型意味着旧的"社会契约"被打破,而新的契约尚未订立,作为企业行为调控机制的伦理作用得以彰显.我们在分析市场经济体制下,西方企业在不同管理时代的"伦理"与"绩效"关系的基础上,阐明企业伦理本身的特有属性及经营绩效的内涵;同时结合中国国有企业目前面临的伦理困惑,认为国有企业要破解这些伦理困惑,就必须根据变化了的现实对其管理伦理进行合理定位,以"社会期望"为前提谋求企业与社会的和谐,以市场经济游戏规则为准谋求企业之间的和谐,以人本管理为依托达到企业与员工关系的和谐统一、以生态优先为基准谋求企业与自然的伙伴关系,以与全球经济接轨为基础实现国有企业组织个性化,以"权威声誉、伦理声誉"营造社会激励伦理行为的氛围.     

Ethical Unit Trust Financial Performance: Small Company Effects and Fund Size Effects

Recent papers which have examined unit trusts have controlled either for a 'fund size effect' or for the 'small firms effect' in the investment portfolio. The contribution of this paper is an analysis of the 'small firms effect' whilst simultaneously controlling for the 'fund size effect'. We show that the ethical unit trusts have significantly greater exposure than general unit trusts to the 'small firms effect', and that net of this there is no significant evidence of over or under performance by ethical trusts using an adjusted Jensen measure. Using two cross-sectional approaches, we demonstrate that whilst a 'small firms effect' has a role to play in explaining unit trust performance, fund size is not correlated with the financial performance of unit trusts. This cross-sectional analysis also provides some evidence that ethical unit trusts may perform less well than general unit trusts.     

Impact of sales force automation on technology-related stress, effort, and technology usage among salespeople

This study unveils factors affecting sales force automation (SFA) technology usage by salespeople. It differs from previous research by: (1) proposing a model that examines the consequences of task complexity on role perceptions and technology usage, and (2) understanding the negative repercussions of SFA technology on the user. The proposed model was tested using data from 150 salespeople employed by a national organization. The results suggest that integration of SFA technology induces adverse role perceptions in salespeople. However, controlling for extraneous variables, effort is significantly related to salespeople's usage of technology. Key managerial implications for theory and practice are discussed.